SC to take up PPP’s petition challenging Kulsoom’s candidacy on Sept 18

ISLAMABAD: A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court will take up an election petition of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) candidate Faisal Mir challenging the verdict of the Lahore High Court that rejected his and other parties’ petitions challenging Begum Kulsoom Nawaz’s candidacy for NA-120 by-election.

The three-judge bench, headed by Justice Gulzar Ahmed, will hear the petition on Sept 18.

The by-poll is scheduled to be held in the Lahore constituency on Sunday (tomorrow).

The PPP candidate approached the apex court on Friday requesting it to declare the verdict of LHC as illegal and unconstitutional and restrain the PML-N’s candidate Kulsoom Nawaz from contesting the by-election.

He has further requested the court to grant an injunction, staying the by-poll in NA-120 until his appeal is decided.

Earlier on Sept 13, a three-judge larger bench of the LHC had dismissed all petitions challenging the acceptance of Kulsoom Nawaz’s nomination papers for the by-election in NA-120 constituency.

The petitioners stated that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz candidate had kept secret the facts about Iqama and shares in companies. She did inform about holding of Iqama but did not mention the earning through it and details of bank accounts, they said.

Kulsoom is also nominated in a treason case in a Sindh court.

The petitioners claimed the wife of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif deliberately hid facts from the nation, hence she was not eligible to contest elections and the decision of approval of her nomination papers by the returning officer should be revoked.

Polling for the by-election in NA-120 constituency of Lahore is set to be held on Sept 17.

Earlier, an election appellate tribunal had rejected the identical petitions of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) challenging the approval of Begum Kulsoom’s nomination papers for the by-election in NA-120.